Being Disciples for LIFE

This week we are teaming with the Pregnancy Centers of Central VA. Today’s blog is written by Jillian Miller, the Center Director for Albemarle County.

Today’s Reading
“For in him we live and move and have our being…” (Acts 17:28)

Life is a beautiful thing. It has its fair share of struggles, pain and hardship, but it is a gift. A gift which can be filled with the most precious things if our hearts are open to them: love, joy, faith, family, friendships, laughter, hope and peace. These are the things that make the struggles bearable, that ease the pain and bring hope to the hardship.

As Christians we also believe that every life is created by God, and precious to Him. We don’t exist by happenstance, but by a plan and for a purpose of the ever-knowing, ever-living God. Which is why here at the Pregnancy Centers we are called to stand up for this most precious gift. We speak for the preborn who cannot speak for themselves. We embrace women and men pressured to consider abortion. These most vulnerable need us, the body of Christ, to support them in their hour of need, to speak truth to them that the culture will not, and to give them hope when they feel hopeless. But we cannot do this work alone.

We have been so blessed by the support and partnership of The Point over the past several years. In 2015 your first diaper drive spring-boarded our diaper ministry. We are now able to offer almost 1,000 packs of diapers a year to our clients who come to us in need! We are also grateful to have been a chosen charity for The Point service days and Reach events. Your church’s involvement sustains us and reminds us that we are united in Christ, and we are so thankful. Today, we are going to step out and ask even more of you…

There is a new program born out of the Pregnancy Center movement for churches called Life Disciples. The program asks supporting churches to become a safe haven for women in unplanned pregnancies. You see, Christians are not immune to abortion. Women sitting next to you on Sundays, listening to Pastor Gabe preach, volunteering, working, going to school, just like you, may be overwhelmed with what a pregnancy will do to their lives. The plans it will change. The challenges it will bring. The people it will affect. Unfortunately, she may also worry, “What will my church think of me?”. And the fear of that shame (real or imagined) may be enough to drive her to an abortion clinic. We want to believe as Christians we would always choose life, but sometimes it’s not that simple.

Will you help support life in a brand new way by becoming Life Disciples? Not for the Pregnancy Center, but for anyone in your church who might soon face this difficult situation. Support changes things. You can change things. Whether it’s this year, or in 5 years, it will happen to someone there. Will you be there to stand by them in this powerful way?

Reflection
How do I feel about helping someone facing an unplanned pregnancy? Is God calling me to do more to protect and promote the sanctity of human life in my own church?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, you are the Father of all the living. Today I thank you for the gift of life. I pray for the protection of every life you have created – from conception to natural death. I pray for healing for all the men and women who have experienced abortion, especially within our church family. May they know intimately the peace and hope found in the ocean of Your mercy. May our church truly be a beacon of light for anyone within our congregation facing pregnancy. May they know they will be supported and loved here. And may we have the strength and wisdom to come alongside them when they need us the most. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

For more information, contact Jenny Basile at The Pregnancy Centers, jenny@virginiapregnancy.org or 434.9794516. And thank you again for all that you do.